IKEA and hasselblad's art collaboration captures another giant leap

IKEA is a swedish multi-national company that stands as the world’s largest furniture retailer. the company designs and sells flat-pack, ready-to-assemble furniture that often incorporate eco-friendly elements.

for over half a century, hasselblad has been involved in many momentous global occasions or, as some would say, giant leaps for mankind, after capturing the first moon landing on film. for 2018, IKEA collaborates with the swedish camera brand as the furniture manufacturer embarks on their newest journey to democratize art. announced during madrid design festival 2018, IKEA launches an art collection consisting of award winning photography captured on the iconic cameras and by professional photographers.

photo by dmitry ageev

called ‘NORRHASSEL’, the collection aims to enlarge great art’s ability to be a great catalyst for human emotions. furthering this, it builds upon the increased importance of having art around the home, specifically the trend of how millennials are putting higher value on emotional features within their living spaces. however, after long providing people all over the world with affordable and functional design, IKEA’s latest venture details materiality through a selection of pictures from hasselblad masters award extensive catalogue.

cafe

‘we know how important it is for your wellbeing to have access to art. with this collection we want to make some excellent photo art available to the many people. to spark people’s creativity but also make people reflect upon what kind of art they would like to surround themselves with where it really matters: in the home.’ says marcus engman, head of design at IKEA.

glocious gulls and waterfront

the new collaboration was first announced as part of IKEA’s exhibition during the 2018 madrid design festival. the ‘NORRHASSEL’ collection itself consists of eight unique pictures of both nature and portraits, which have been decorated for their images, quality and creativity. the list of photographers include: dmitry ageev, lars van de goor, hans strand, bara prasilova, ali rajabi, tom d. jones and joachim schmeisser.

evoke

‘we want to share our love and passion of photography with the world and give a wider audience the chance to discover new works of art created by hasselblad photographers. this partnership is a way to inspire people by bringing world class photography into their every-day life. each image was hand selected for its beauty, composition and aesthetics so that they add a level of emotion to your home.’ says bronius rudnickas, marketing manager at hasselblad.

a misty view

‘we are two swedish companies that are very much engrossed in design, where, for us, the ergonomics, function and quality performance of our cameras are integral. it is these similarities in terms of creativity that joined us and made the partnership very natural,‘ explains bronius.

tsavo

‘being of portraits and nature, the collection is actually very specific but the works are representative of high-end photography. as the collaboration is with IKEA, we had to make sure the selections were suitable and stylish for the many.‘

‘for the future, the series could be changed more frequently in order to increase diversity and uniqueness,‘ concludes bronius. ‘this last point fits exceptionally well with IKEA’s exhibition during madrid design festival, where, with projects like this collaboration, the brand is exploring how to bring uniqueness to the mass production of design and art.’

LOG IN

designboom's comment policy guidelines generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject. we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share! our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions. we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like. the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say? let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

- please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments. - please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters. - please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround. - please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion. - please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results (there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent. in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish the best 100-200 entries too.)

a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc. (links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay). unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted. and, ... yes, spam gets banned. no, we do not post fake comments.

a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.